


Can't Go, Won't Go

by brionylarkin



Series: Drove (Them) Underground [3]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, As Adults, Hurt/Comfort, Sort Of, Time Travel, We'll get there, all characters times two, because they're in the past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-03
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-01-04 10:43:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18342056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brionylarkin/pseuds/brionylarkin
Summary: Five years after returning to the past, Klaus' siblings have a revelation about his powers that even he wasn't fully aware of. Their younger selves are even more confused than they are.





	1. The Death

**Author's Note:**

> I started this on April 1st to celebrate the world not ending haha. It's unedited because who has time for that. Enjoy!

After Five’s valiant attempt to transport his five (six, technically, now that Ben was sometimes corporeal) siblings to the past, they had gathered their strengths, found a newspaper, and hunkered down for the long haul. Sure, it was 2002 again, and sure, they were adults with no possible way to connect with their younger selves, but the Apocalypse was seventeen years in the future. And they knew it was coming. That was already a big improvement.

It had taken weeks of carefully planning, gathering resources, and hiding in abandoned buildings before the six (seven) of them felt ready to begin to change their past (future).

It started with a TV show host. Their first televised interview had been a disaster. It had only been the six visibly superpowered siblings, Vanya having been left at home, and in ten minutes the host had diminished Klaus’ powers, asked Diego who would win in a fight--him or Luther, and somehow gotten Allison to admit they had a normal sister. He then proceeded to insult Vanya on live television, not giving her siblings time to defend her and sending Vanya into the beginnings of her first depressive episode. They later found that Reginald had been in charge of picking the interviewer. Figures.

Once they had dealt with that, it had been Griddy’s. One particularly warm night in April, all seven of them had snuck out, a singularly rare event, only to find that Griddy’s was closed. This had taken them to Mcdonald’s, where they met a fanboy who asked Vanya (to her face!) what was wrong with her, why she didn’t have any powers. So, they managed to convince Agnes to keep her restaurant open just one extra hour, through a bit of well-place ‘suggestion’. (Klaus sat in a booth and cried, pretending to be going through a bad breakup. It was startlingly convincing and concerned everyone, but especially Diego. This appealed to Agnes’ maternal side and she sat with Klaus for half an hour, leaving the restaurant open and under the care of another employee, enough time for the younger Hargreeves siblings to come and go.)

And on and on it went. They changed as many small moments as they could remember. And it worked! A small leaked bit of video from after an interview showed little Allison calling little Vanya from the studio and putting her on speaker for everyone else to shout their ‘hello’s. It was adorable and, more importantly, hadn’t happened in their original timeline.

That brought them to today. They’d been here for nearly five years. Their younger selves were seventeen, nearly eighteen, and it was better. Not perfect, of course. Little Klaus was still high more often than not, but he hadn’t found the heavy hitters yet. Little Luther was still daddy’s little soldier, but even he was more lenient than in the original timeline. Everyone was closer to each other. Everyone made time for Vanya.

Today was the day that would make or break all the ground they’d gained. Today was the day Ben died. Or didn’t die.

Originally, the six Umbrella Academy members had been sent out to stop a bank robbery--pretty simple stuff. But, Klaus had been hungover and was unable to come. And, Allison had had another interview, and Diego was sick, and Five had already run away. So, it was just Luther and Ben who had responded to the call. And Ben had died.

This time around, Diego was still sick and Klaus was still hungover, but Allison would never choose an interview over her siblings and Five hadn’t run away.

Plus they had seven extra pairs of hands they weren’t expecting. So, once again, this time as adults, the Hargreeves found themselves in the midst of criminals who were well-informed, well-equipped, and expecting them.

“Allison, watch out!”

It had all quickly gone to hell in a hand basket. Klaus, Allison, and Vanya had been separated from the group almost immediately, pushed into another room that Vanya had proceeded to absolutely trash. This burst of power had tired her out and Klaus had struggled to carry her in a fireman’s carry. (Turns out that without an Apocalypse-level emotional breakdown, Vanya had limits. Who knew?)

Allison ducked back behind the pillar, a bullet barely missing her head. “Where is everyone?” she shouted over the gunfire. “Younger us are going to be here any minute!”

“Oh, yes, that’s our biggest problem!” Klaus yelled back from behind nearby boxes. “Making sure our baby selves don’t see us is more important than making sure we live to see tomorrow.” He waved his hands around his head.

“Not the time, Klaus! Ben any closer to manifesting?” she was straining her voice dangerously with all the shouting, but it was necessary. She had to get everyone out okay. If only the people shooting at them could hear her!

Klaus clenched his fists in the corner of her eye, blue light sputtering out like a dead car engine. Even with five years of practice, his summonings were pretty hit or miss. He silently shook his head at her.

Next to him, Vanya was laying weakly against the wall, eyes closed, trying to find a singular sound to focus on. It didn’t appear to be going well.

“If we could only-” BANG!

Whatever Klaus had been about to say was cut off by the shout of a shotgun taking the lid off the boxes he was crouched behind. Klaus yelped and covered his ears, hunkering down as low as he could. It wasn’t enough.

The next shotgun shell shattered the wooden box and bullets ripped through Klaus’ body. He didn’t even have time to scream before he was violently jerking and falling to the floor choking on his own blood.

“Klaus!” Vanya screamed. Allison just stared in shock as her sister _screamed_ , power shooting out of her in all directions. It missed Allison.

Everyone else in the room was slammed against a different wall, the life crushed out of them. It went silent.

“Klaus?!” Vanya called, tears streaming down her face. She weakly shook her brother. “Klaus, please, don’t be dead.” Her face crumbled and she bowed her head over Klaus’ limp form. Allison found herself able to move again.

“We-we need to get help,” she rasped. “He’ll be fine, we just need to get help!” She shot to her feet and left Vanya sobbing behind her as she left the room.

“Luther!” she shouted. “Five, Diego! Where are you guys?!”

Luther rounded the corner, Diego and Five hot on his heels. All three were covered in blood, but appeared to be unharmed.

“Klaus is hurt! Oh my god, we need to do something!” Allison said before they were even halfway to her. “V-Vanya’s with him now.” She ignored the tears streaming down her face to point weakly back towards the room she had just left.

Diego sprinted past her while Five simply vanished in a flash of blue. Luther wrapped an arm around her shoulder, ushering her into the room. Allison leaned into him for support, suddenly feeling lightheaded. They couldn’t have gone through so much together, only to lose Klaus to this. It simply wasn’t possible.

“Klaus? Hey, bro, wake up, you’re gonna be fine,” Diego was begging, cradling his brother’s limp head in his hands. “Man, please, wake up.” He furiously wiped his eyes. “Klaus, don’t play.”

“He can’t just _die_ ,” Five murmured, almost to himself. “He can’t just…” He furrowed his brows and swayed on his feet. Whether it was exhaustion or simply shock, no one could tell. And, because never let it be said that the Hargreeves don’t have the worst timing ever, voices came suddenly from behind them.

“Are you guys alright?” It was little Allison,. Her domino mask covered most of her features, but her confusion was evident. Little Luther, Ben, and Five flanked her.

Here they were, expecting a fight, only to find four (technically five, though no one alive could see Ben) bedraggled, bloody adults hovering over the body of an equally bedraggled, bloodier adult. There was also an exact copy of Five standing among them, though he wasn’t wearing his Umbrella Academy uniform. There was not a dry eye in the place.

“What the hell is going on?” little Luther demanded. Some things would never change.


	2. 'Love'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't have any expectations going into this, but if I had you guys would've blown them all out of the water. I got my first comment within like fifteen minutes!! You guys are amazing and this is exactly why I've continued the story. I hope everyone enjoys chapter two! keep commenting, you brighten my world!

“So much for them not seeing us,” muttered Five, still staring at Klaus’ body. Vanya’s sobbing had slowed to a steady trickle and she was simply clutching Klaus’ cooling hand for dear life. Next to her, Diego had moved his brother’s head to rest in his lap. 

“He can’t just be dead.” He shook his head in denial. “We’ve g-gone through too much for him to d-die like this.” Something about Diego’s stuttering must have been familiar because little Ben spoke up from behind them. 

“Why do you sound like Diego?”

“Because he is Diego, dumbass,” said Five without looking up. “Just like I’m Five and that’s Allison and Luther and Vanya. Just like Klaus is lying dead on the floor.” Towards the end, his voice got thicker and thicker until he cut himself off entirely. His voice pitched higher. “Luther, you’re Number One, can you..?”

“Yeah,” Luther said gruffly. “Allison…” He gently eased her away from his shoulder where she’d been hiding her face. She went willingly, falling to her knees next to Vanya instead. Vanya clutched Allison’s hand until her knuckles went white, but Allison was holding hers just as tightly. 

Luther left the room slowly, walking in a fog, trailed by four younger versions of himself and his siblings. Klaus would’ve compared them to ducklings, but Klaus couldn’t do anything anymore. 

Diego smoothed his brother’s hair away from his frozen eyes. He considered closing them, but the thought of never seeing those green eyes again nearly turned his slowing tears into a river. 

He remembered specific moments of their original childhood, like a slideshow of happiness--sneaking out to Griddy’s with Klaus and Ben, Klaus daring him to climb the giant tree in their courtyard (Diego had needed stitches), Diego buying Klaus his first leather jacket for their birthday. So many insignificant moments that now added up to nothing. These moments were interspersed with so many bad ones--Klaus breaking down in the veterans’ bar, Diego picking Klaus up after his third rehab trip in as many years, letting Klaus stay on his sofa only to wake up at midnight to his little brother (it didn’t matter whether they were the same age; Diego had always felt older) screaming and thrashing around. 

The last five years, spent hiding and manipulating their younger selves from the shadows, had been a fountain of information--about Klaus, from Klaus, for Klaus. Diego could happily say they were the closest they had ever been.

And now it was over. 

Vanya remembered what it had felt like to kill Leonard ( _ Harold _ , she reminded herself, he was  _ Harold _ ). It was rewarding at the time, to release all her pent up anger and aggression in one fell swoop. And she’d never regretted it. Except for when she did, because she  _ knew  _ that he was a liar, that none of it had been real, that he was manipulating her. But, the small scared little girl inside of her had loved him. She had loved Leonard and none of her siblings seemed to understand that, so she kept her grief hidden, masked it under layers and layers of guilt (‘Like an onion!’ She could almost hear Klaus’s voice, see his cheeky grin).

Until one day, Klaus had sat down next to her and, almost offhandedly, told her about an abusive relationship he’d been involved in when he was twenty-three. The guy had been Klaus’ dealer and kept him locked in a basement for over a month, but before that Klaus had liked him so much it almost felt like love. 

Klaus had said that she was allowed to grieve for Leonard, even if it felt wrong, that there wasn’t something wrong with her. She had cried and hugged him. Afterwards, he had muttered something about hearing that in therapy and scampered away like he was afraid of all the emotion, but Vanya had kept that interaction close to her heart ever since. 

She sniffed, clinging to Allison’s hand, only vaguely aware of Luther leading their younger selves out of the room. Undoubtedly, he was about to give them some bullshit speech they should probably stop, but she couldn’t bring herself to leave Klaus’ side. 

Five crept up behind Allison, carefully placing a hand on her shoulder. All of them were covered in blood, both from Klaus and the attackers. It was starting to dry, but no one moved to clean it off. 

Next to Five, invisible to all those alive, Ben waited, both dreading and eagerly anticipating what came next. 

With a gasp of air, Klaus burst upwards, slamming his forehead into Diego’s. Diego flinched backwards, grabbing at his head.

“Holy shit!” he cried.

Klaus didn’t seem to notice the impact, too busy turning onto his side to vomit up the contents of his stomach and an awful lot of blood. He gagged and coughed, but didn’t stop until nothing but bile was coming up.

A glob of spit was dangling from his mouth. Klaus coughed. 

“That little girl is fucking crazy,” he muttered under his breath. “Wow, that’s gonna hurt in the morning…”

“K-Klaus?” Vanya asked, eyes wide and shocky. Klaus blinked up at her, looking for all intents and purposes, as if he’d just woken up from a long fever dream.

“Vanya?” With great effort, he heaved himself into a sitting position, ending up almost in Diego’s lap. Giving them all a weak grin, he continued, “Why are you all on the floor? I thought that was more my thing?”

Diego pulled his brother in for the tightest hug of Klaus’ life. He ran a hand through Klaus’ curly hair. Klaus mumbled something that was muffled by the man currently smothering him. 

“You were dead!” Diego cried, voice thick with tears. “You w-w-were…” He trailed off, seemingly unable to finish his thought. 

“How?” Five’s soft voice asked. They turned to see that he was still standing behind Allison, though his hand had fallen off her shoulder. His arms dangled uselessly by his sides and he was trembling. The whites of his eyes nearly matched his skin, he looked so pale. He repeated himself. “How?”

“I-I don’t know, Five,” Klaus said in a low voice, eyes fixed on Five’s concerning appearance. “M-Maybe you should sit down?” Five sat down heavily, letting himself fall from being upright to sitting on the floor. “Not really what I… At least you’re sitting.” 

“Klaus?” Vanya whispered. Her eyes were still silver but she hadn’t seemed to notice. There was also blood in her hair. Klaus’ blood. Her face crumpled into tears. 

“Oh, come here, love.” Klaus opened his arms, beckoning to her, and Vanya launched herself at him. He leaned back into Diego. “Now, it’s a real group hug! C’mon, Allison, Five.” Klaus waved them over and Allison, still in shock, immediately acquiesced without saying a word. Five thought for a moment before scooting closer to lay his hands on Diego and Vanya’s backs. 

Klaus had started calling Vanya ‘love’ only a few months after they traveled to the past. It began as a jokesy pet name after someone had mistook them for a couple in a shop, but had quickly turned into an unspoken symbol of their growing friendship. He had called her ‘love’ when they talked about Leonard. 

At the beginning, when she’d had such little control over her powers, Klaus calling her ‘love’ was sometimes all it took to calm her down. 

“Has,” Allison gasped out. She stopped, cleared her throat, and continued. “Has that happened before?”

“What, me dying and getting kicked back to life?” Klaus said. “Occasionally?”

Five sat up. “And you never thought to tell us that you could  _ come back to life _ ?” He asked, face darkening. “That’s kind of fucking important information, Klaus!” Klaus pulled away from his siblings and scratched at his beard. 

“I guess I forgot?” he cringed. His siblings erupted with questions. “Well, how was I supposed to remember, it usually happens when I’m high!”

Allison broke through the others’ questions. “Well, when was the last time it happened?” 

Klaus bit his lip. “Um… I guess it must have been before we traveled back in time? When I followed Luther to that rave.” 

“Oh shit, Luther!” Allison jumped to her feet and ran for the door. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten that Luther still thought Klaus was dead. “Luther!” 

Slamming open the door, she skidded to a stop. In the hallway, a teary-eyed Luther was sitting on a broken piece of wall, surrounded by freaked-out, uncomfortable-looking teenagers. Little Luther was awkwardly patting his older self’s shoulder--it was adorable. 

“Luther,” Allison said, beaming as the news finally sunk in. “Klaus is alive, he’s okay!” She jumped a little bit into the air, suddenly unable to control her glee. “He’s fine!” 

“What?” Luther croaked. He stood up and practically ran into the room. Allison went to follow him, but at the last minute stopped, remembering their younger selves.

Allison looked at the teenagers. The teenagers looked at Allison. 

It was times like these that Allison really missed Claire. If they had stayed in the future, her baby would be what… nine? Ten? It was hard to keep track. But, thanks to the changes they’d made, Claire didn’t even exist anymore. She’d never get to grow up into a teenager like the ones standing in front of her. The thought was nearly enough to make Allison cry.

“Well, I guess you’d better come in,” she said, holding the door for her younger self.


	3. Wait, you were what?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still love you guys! thank you so much for the comments and kudos it keeps me alive! unfortunately, i will not have access to internet for the next two weeks or so so i won't be posting anytime soon. after that, though, we can hopefully get back on track with regular-ish posting

Before, when Allison was crying over Klaus’ body, it as was if the rest of the world had melted away, leaving behind only her family and their grief. It was only when the younger versions of her family followed her into the room that she consciously registered that they were surrounded by corpses.

All the men Vanya had killed were strewn across the room like broken party favors. Blood was pooling under broken bodies. Something crunched underfoot as Allison crossed the floor. A pained grimace crossing her face, she stubbornly refused to look down.

“We should get moving,” she announced, to Klaus’ relief. Luther had been hugging him for two minutes straight and it had been uncomfortable from the very start. Even after five years, they weren’t the closest of siblings.

Luther pulled away from his brother, wiping at his eyes roughly. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Yeah, we should. The police will be here any minute.”

“Uh, the police are actually… outside?” Little Ben cringed. “We had to sneak around them. I think they thought there were hostages?”

Diego looked at him blankly. “Why would there be hostages? The bank wasn’t even open for the day.” Little Ben just shrugged.

“Okay,” declared Little Luther, crossing his arms. “I think this has gone on long enough. Who _are_ you people?” Little Allison nodded in agreement.

“I think it’s quite obvious,” both Five’s said in unison. They turned to each other in surprise. One self-consciously adjusted his school tie, while the other put his hands in his hoodie pockets. The older one steamrolled over the younger.

“We’re you from the future,” he said. “It’ll take far too long to explain how to you, so--” He was interrupted by Allison clearing her throat and sending him a meaningful look. He sighed and rolled his eyes, looking every bit the disaffected teenager. “But, of course we will _try_ once we’re away from the literal crime scene.”

Klaus snickered. “Good job, Five-y! You’ve been working so hard at not being a total asshat. It’s good to see it’s working out for you.” Normally, Five would send him a death glare to end all death glares, but he was having trouble even looking at Klaus currently, so it was skipped.

“Five, do you think you could teleport us out?” Luther asked, ignoring the whole conversation.

The younger Five let out a disbelieving scoff, but the older replied, “Maybe. It depends on how far the police barricade extends.” Younger Five sent him an absolutely astonished look that went unnoticed.

“What about a distraction?” Allison suggested. She turned to look at Vanya. “Maybe you could come up with something to draw them away? Make some noise across the street or something?”

“Oh, uh, yeah, probably,” Vanya said. She made no move to loosen her death grip on Klaus’ arm, instead pulling him to his feet alongside her. “Is there a window?”

“In the next room,” said Diego, pointing to the door. Vanya led the way out of the room, trying in vain to avoid looking at the dead bodies littering the floor. Only Klaus was able to fully ignore them, focusing more on banishing their ghosts--another hit-or-miss skill of his.

The younger Hargreeves exchanged disbelieving looks, unable to comprehend the mess they had landed themselves in on what was supposed to be a routine mission. They couldn’t know how un-routine this mission had originally gone.

When Vanya did finally find the aforementioned window facing the street, she crept up beneath it, barely sticking her head over the ledge. It was just enough to get a glimpse of what she had to work with.

“Okay, get ready to run,” she said. Her eyes flared white and an unnatural wind picked up within the bank. Reaching upwards, Vanya cracked the window open just enough to send a tendril of power out into the street. It passed the police officers and grabbed a trash can.

“What the fuck,” one of the younger Hargreeves whispered behind her.

BANG! She catapulted the can at the building across the street, following it up with a slamming door and several broken windows. The officers immediately began shouting orders and motioning each other to go investigate. As soon as a few had made their way over, more came from behind the bank to cover them.

“Go, go, go!” Allison was saying. She grabbed Vanya’s wrist and yanked her out of the room, the wind dying down as soon as it had come. Ahead of them, Klaus glanced backwards while windmilling down the hallway. He grinned when he saw that they were right behind him.

They fairly crashed out the back entrance of the bank and sprinted down the alley, away from the police. As an afterthought, Diego sent a knife flying backwards to destroy a security camera. It hit the camera dead on and came back to him like a boomerang. Little Ben let out a shocked gasp at the show of precision, knowing that the Diego he knew would never have been able to manage it.

As soon as Luther was opening the front door of their van, where they’d parked it down a side street, Allison was motioning the teenagers inside. It was a tight squeeze and the spot they usually left open for Ben was filled by Little Luther and Allison shoving themselves into the same seat, while both Five’s were uncomfortably sharing the seat next to them.

How Klaus ended up with shotgun was a mystery (no, it wasn’t. He had threatened to bite Diego and Diego, still rattled at his brother’s actual death experience, was unwilling to argue over it).

“Where to?” Luther asked from the driver’s seat. He pulled the van out of the alley, calming merging into traffic.

“Well, I don’t know about you guys, but I am absolutely covered in blood,” Klaus said, causing just about everyone to flinch. “I could really use a bath but will settle for a shower. My kingdom for some clean clothes, Luther!”

“So… home?” Luther said, brow creasing as it often did when talking to Klaus. “Alright.”

“Wait, what about the kids?” Diego said from the backseat. “We can’t just take them. Reginald will realize something weird is happening eventually.”

“How long do you guys usually take on missions?” asked Vanya.

“Reginald won’t suspect anything out of the ordinary as long as we’re back by seven,” the younger Five said. “We often go out for food after missions and he’s given up trying to stop us.”         

Diego blinked in surprise. “Well, that’s convenient.”

“Wish _we’d_ done that as kids!” Klaus exclaimed, waving his hands around and trying to cover up his shaking.

Diego leaned forward out of his seat and rested a hand on Klaus’ shoulder.

“Just breathe, brother,” he said. Klaus gave him an only slightly shaky smile and rested a hand over Diego’s. Diego was forced to resume his seat only when Luther hit a pothole at forty five miles per hour and nearly sent him through the roof.

“See, this is why we don’t let Luther drive!” said Five.

“You’re the smallest, Five, it makes sense for you to sit in the back!” Luther defended himself and Klaus dissolved into laughter at the familiar argument. They all ignored the hysterical edge to it and for that he was grateful.

~~~~~~~

They arrived, soon enough, at the shitty apartment the older Hargreeves had been calling home for the past five years (well, four and a bit. It had taken a long time to find steady enough work and gather enough cash to afford any place. Until then, they had frequented various homeless shelters that Klaus was familiar with, and wasn’t that a sad thought). They parked the van in the same parking spot they always did and Allison produced a key from her pocket and soon enough they were in the apartment.

Klaus pushed to the front of the group and managed to be the first person in. “Sugar cube!” he announced, flinging his arms in the air. “You would not believe the day I have had!” Casually, he yanked his shirt over his head and flounced deeper into the apartment. From the living room/kitchen combo, they could hear him continuing to talk over the sound of the shower.

“Is Klaus conjuring someone?” Little Allison asked with a furrowed brow. “I thought he hated conjuring people.”

“That’s just Dave,” Diego replied. He crossed the room and began to rummage through the cabinets.

“Who’s..?” Little Allison started to ask. She and the smaller set of Hargreeves remained near the door while their older versions fanned out around the apartment. Allison and Vanya disappeared down a hallway, presumably to begin getting cleaned up, while Five grabbed the coffee grounds Diego had just pulled down and started to make a pot. Luther just sat down heavily on the couch, leaning back and looking ready to go to sleep.

“Dave’s his dead boyfriend,” Five deadpanned without turning around. “He’s actually not too bad of a conversationalist.” He looked thoughtful. “I don’t know how he puts up with Klaus, though.” Somehow he already had a full cup of coffee.

“I resent that!” Klaus exclaimed, sliding into the room. His hair was wet and he had changed into a soft nightgown and fuzzy socks. “Dave _loves_ me, isn’t that right, babe?”

To his left, a softly indistinguishable figure became visible just long enough to say: “Of course I do, sunshine.”

“Oh my god!” Little Ben jumped back. “That’s a whole ghost.” He stared at where Dave had been with wide eyes.

“Yeah, he’s my boo,” Klaus said with a snicker. Diego just rolled his eyes and ignored his brother’s bad puns.

“So, I guess we owe you an explanation,” he said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. He thought for a moment, then held it out in offering. “Want some?”

It was then that Vanya and Allison wandered back into the living room. Allison was leading Vanya who was wearing headphones and walking with her eyes closed. It was her usual after-battle relaxation technique. She explained it as helping her reorient herself and the sounds around her, but Diego was pretty sure it was more about chilling to some music than anything else. Allison sat Vanya down on the armchair, then plopped herself in Luther’s lap. Luther, who hadn’t seemed awake before that, didn’t even react beyond wrapping his arms around her waist. She buried her face in his shoulder and yawned. The whole thing spoke of an established romantic relationship.

The younger Hargreeves took a moment to examine this interaction.

“Yeah, no kidding, you owe us an explanation!” Little Allison cried shrilly. “What the hell is that? Luther is my _brother_ , that’s disgusting!”

Klaus gasped and clapped his hands. “Oh my god! This is what we’d be like if we had healthy sibling relationships in our formative years!”

“Well, yes,” Five replied, rolling his eyes. “Most siblings don’t turn to incest as an outlet for their father’s bad parenting.”

“We’re not technically related, Five,” Allison mumbled without looking up.

“If you have to say ‘technically’, that’s… not great,” said Klaus. He gave Allison a sunny grin when she looked up to glare at him.

“That’s rich coming from you, ghost fucker,” she said with no real heat. This was a familiar conversation and she knew none of her siblings were actually trying to break her and Luther up. They just enjoyed harassing her.

Little Allison was looking more and more frantic when Five finally interrupted.

“Can we get on with telling them their future and possibly destroying the time continuum?” he asked. “I’d also like to get to sleep some time tonight.”

“Oh, we all know you don’t sleep, Five-y,” said Klaus. Five ignored him.

“The basics are we traveled back in time to prevent the apocalypse by influencing events from the outside,” he said. “Most of these events involved the Academy in some way. That’s why we were at the bank today.”

“Why do you still look my age then?”

“What do you mean, the apocalypse?”

“Are Luther and I seriously a couple?”

“Wait, how is Klaus even walking around right now? I’m just realizing he was bleeding out earlier, wasn’t he?”

Many questions came at once, but only the last one got an answer.

“I wasn’t bleeding out, my dear brother Ben, I was dead!” Klaus gave his baby brother jazz hands, displaying his ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ tattoos.

“The fuck you mean, dead?” Little Ben cried out, looking horrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ha! i bet you thought i forgot about dave! notice the addition of dave/klaus as well as allison/luther tags (tho we won't talk about the second one)  
> did i only include dave to have him call klaus 'sunshine'?.....yes


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Ben holds all the brain cells, as always, and Dave/Klaus are cute

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is still unbetaed

After Klaus had brought the whole room to a standstill by his casual declaration, the older Five had taken over the explanation, ignoring (for now) the implications of Klaus’ newly revealed power. In the chaos of revealing the future to their teenage selves, Klaus managed to slip out.

He reclined back on his bed with a happy sigh, raising a lit cigarette to his mouth.

“What?” he asked Ben, who was giving him a disapproving look. “It’s a cigarette, not heroine.” Ben rolled his eyes.

“That’s not what the look was for,” he said from where he was crouched upon Diego’s bed. “Although I don’t really like the smoking either. You should’ve explained it to them.”

Klaus waved a hand in dismissal. So what if he occasionally crash landed in the afterlife? The little girl in the sky always punted him right back out, claiming it ‘wasn’t his time yet’. He told Ben as much. 

“They’re your siblings and they care about you,” Ben replied. “Weren’t you the one going on and on about how we needed to be a family? That applies to you, too, dumbass.”

Klaus whined, “Stop making sense. You know it gives me a rash!” He sauntered over to his open window and climbed out onto the fire escape, where Dave, made temporarily corporeal though not visible, was watering the flowers. Ben had the good sense not to follow.

“Hey, baby,” he crooned, trying to sound sexy even as he awkwardly struggled through the window and flopped onto the metal grating. “How’s it hanging?”

Dave placed the watering can underneath the window and turned to Klaus, looking unbearably sad. “I know you made me promise not to interrogate you about this dying thing, but I really do think we should talk about it.”

Klaus groaned, “Not you, too!” Dave smiled softly. He sat down against the building and gestured for Klaus to join him. Klaus scrambled into his lap, certain of his welcome in a way he’d never been with anyone before he met Dave. 

“I love you, Klaus,” Dave murmured into his boyfriend’s curly hair. “Your family loves you. I wish you would let us support you the way you support us.”

“I’m sorry, Dave.” Klaus looked up, revealing teary eyes and eyeliner already beginning to run. “But, how do you bring something like that up? We’re finally getting our lives together and having happy relationships. I didn’t want to bring us all down with something that wasn’t even important.”

“Hey, hey.” Dave gently grasped Klaus’ chin. “Look at me. It’s important.  _ You’re  _ important.” He leaned in and kissed Klaus, who melted into it, reaching his arms up to encircle Dave’s neck. They parted with a sigh and rested their foreheads together. 

Klaus sniffled. “I don’t even want to think about what that must look like to people who can’t see you.” Dave laughed and Klaus followed.

“Alright,” Klaus said. “You win. I’ll talk to them. We’ll have, like, a serious conversation or whatever.” He rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell Ben you convinced me with one conversation. I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Dave chuckled. “Speaking of Ben.” He gestured to the window. Klaus turned to find Little Ben standing in the middle of the room, looking vaguely lost. 

Klaus heaved himself upright and managed to drag himself back inside. “You looking for me, baby Ben?” Little Ben jumped at Klaus, who had been sitting below the window, seemingly coming out of nowhere. 

“Uh, Five told us pretty much everything, like how you guys came back in time to stop the apocalypse? And that Vanya started it, which seems pretty crazy, but.” Little Ben started. He bit his lip. “Am I-am I dead? In the future, I mean. It’s just that nobody’s mentioned me being in the future at all and it’s starting to make me nervous.” 

Klaus just stared at Ben. It was startling to realize that this version of his brother was older than the original would ever be, even if it was only by a few hours. Instead of answering, he clenched his fists, forcing them to glow blue with ease (because of course  _ now  _ it was working) and conjured Ben. 

The younger Ben stared, slack-jawed, at his (technically younger) self, as he appeared in front of him. The ghostly Ben waved.

“Oh,” he choked out. Klaus could see the tears coming before they actually did. He’d had almost two decades to study Ben’s face, so  _ of course _ he could tell when his brother was about to cry. 

“How soon does it--does it happen? You look my age.” Ben said, valiantly trying to hold back the tears. Klaus let the ghost Ben fade out of visibility. 

“It was supposed to happen today,” he said. “That’s why we were at the bank robbery. It was to stop you from dying.”

Relief almost visibly rushed through Ben. “Oh,” he said again, sitting down heavily on Diego’s bed. The ghost Ben jumped up as his younger self sat on him. 

“Hey!” His half hearted cry went unheard as Klaus crossed the room to comfort the alive Ben. 

“It’s okay, Benny,” Klaus cooed. “Even if you had died, you would’ve spent the next fifteen years hanging out with moi! You saved my life a couple of times, I think.”

“A couple of times?” Ghost Ben snorted. “More like every other day.” 

Klaus gasped. “The slander! My own brother!” Ben giggled, confused but assuming, correctly, that Klaus was talking to his dead self. 

Klaus continued to rub Ben’s back gently until the tears stopped. Across the room, Dave gave him a thumbs up. Klaus just beamed back. 

Meanwhile, back in the living room, an awkward silence had fallen. Well, it had fallen over the younger Hargreeves. The older ones were just sitting in a comfortable silence they had been cultivating for five years now. Allison had fallen asleep halfway through the conversation and Luther wasn’t far behind. Five was sitting at the kitchen table, sipping his third cup of coffee and watching Diego attempt to make eggs, while Vanya was still listening to music in the armchair. Five sighed.

“Do you have any more questions?” he asked with great reluctance. Little Allison and Luther both started to speak at once, but little Five interrupted them.

“Of course we do, but it can wait,” he said.

“But-” little Allison started.

“For tomorrow,” little Five continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “When we bring Vanya, Klaus, and Diego over and we get a  _ full  _ explanation. Don’t think I can’t tell you’re leaving things out.” Little Allison glared at him, but let it go, while little Luther was nodding along. 

“They deserve to know, too,” he said. “Speaking of, we should probably get back. Where’s Ben?” 

As if summoned by the use of his name, little Ben walked into the room, followed by Klaus. Both looked as if they’d been crying. Klaus simply leaned against the counter next to Diego who laid a hand on his shoulder and sent him a concerned look that Klaus brushed off. Little Allison was immediately on little Ben.

“Are you okay, Ben?” she asked, sending a glare at Klaus. “Did something happen?” Klaus raised his hands in offense, but little Ben just laughed. 

“I’m fine, Ally,” he said. “We were just talking about some stuff.”

“Okay,” she let it go with a suspicious look. “We were about to get going, but we’re coming back tomorrow with the others.” Ben smiled and agreed, and soon the younger Hargreeves were gone.

Diego sunk onto the couch, giving up on making eggs (he’d never been much of a cook). 

“Well,” he groaned. “That was a clusterfuck.” Everyone laughed, even the previously sleeping Allison mumbling something in agreement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hmu if you have requests or ideas about where this could go because honestly? hell if i know (which i realize isn't reassuring to hear from the WRITER but hey ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	5. Explanation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We FINALLY drag an explanation out of Klaus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter contains references to my other story in this series 'the beginning' but you don't have to have read that to understand this. i think i've mentioned before that the stories in this series are technically in the same universe. Only technically tho! You won’t miss anything if you only read one I promise

“Well!” Klaus clapped his hands together and began heading towards his bedroom. “It’s been a day! Goodnight, my lovely family. I will see you all in-” He was stopped abruptly by a suddenly corporeal Ben grabbing his shirt and pulling him back. 

Klaus squawked, “Hey!” as Ben tugged him to the table and dumped him into a chair. 

“Explain,” Ben demanded, crossing his arms and doing his best to look menacing. It only sort of worked. Once you’ve spent almost twenty years with someone, it’s hard to intimidate them. 

Klaus just whined, “I don’t want to. It’s gonna be a lot of talking and I want to sleep.”

“You’re only delaying the inevitable,” said Ben. “They  _ need  _ to know.”

“Don’t you trust us, Klaus?” asked Vanya, eyes big. Klaus just groaned and put his head down on the table. Just as Ben was about to get himself involved again, Klaus began to speak. 

“I don’t remember the first time it happened,” he mumbled into his crossed arms. “But, I had this nanny when I was really little, like two or three, I think. Anyway, she was really religious or something and when Dad finally figured out what my powers were, she flipped. She, um.” He paused and lifted his head off the table, leaning back in his chair almost nonchalantly. “I think she drowned me in the bath, but I-I don’t remember it, so I don’t know for sure.” Klaus stared up at the ceiling in an effort to avoid his siblings’ shocked gazes. 

“How did you know?” Diego broke the silence, a heartbroken look on his face. 

“What?” Klaus looked at him quizzically.

“How d-did you kn-know that she killed you?” Diego asked and the others nodded in agreement, needing to focus on something other than the fact that their brother had  _ died  _ before his fourth birthday.

Vanya stared at Klaus, tears beginning to leak from her eyes. She couldn’t help but dwell on how she could have lost him before she ever really knew him

“Uh, she told me?” Klaus said as if they should know. “I think Dad killed her. Her ghost usually chills in the medical wing. We’ve had some good chats over the years.” He smiled, looking almost wistful. “Y’know, in between her calling me the devil and ranting about how she should’ve held me under longer. It’s a love-hate kind of relationship.”

“I don’t understand!” Five snapped, eyes wide and slightly hysterical. “The universe has constants, alright? You can’t just come back to life. That’s not how the world works!” As he continued, Klaus cringed back in his chair, looking more and more uncomfortable until Allison, having moved to stand behind Five, slapped their brother on the back of the head. 

“Five,” she said. “Don’t be an asshole. You’re hurting Klaus’ feelings.”

Klaus halfheartedly laughed. “Hey, we all know I don’t have feelings.” 

Ignoring his brother’s weak attempt at a joke, Diego said, “Wait, all those times you o-overdosed, was that really you..” He looked sick. “Dying?”

Klaus bit his lip. “Sometimes,” he admitted. “Sometimes I was just given CPR or whatever really quickly. It’s hard to tell the difference.” The last part was said mostly under his breath, but everyone heard it. 

“How can you just not die, though?” said Luther, looking puzzled. “Are you immortal or just hard to kill? I don’t get it.”

Klaus sighed. “Alright, everyone listen up, because I’m only going to say this once.” He turned to look at Five. “Five, you wanna take notes or something, buddy? You’re looking a little frazzled.” Five flipped him off, though it was lacking his usual heat. 

“Anyway,” Klaus continued. “The way I’ve always seen my powers is like a door. The dead are on one side and the living are on the other, right? But instead of my powers being like a door, it’s more like  _ I’m  _ the door.” His siblings seemed lost, so he started again. 

“It’s like… a door that can swing open either way. I can swing into the world of the living or into the world of the dead, but I’m not really on either side.” Klaus flapped his hands in frustration. “Do you guys understand any of this?”

“Are you saying you’re not really alive or dead?” asked Allison, seeming skeptical.

“That’s not possible,” mumbled Five, eyes slightly crazed. 

“Yes!” Klaus cried, clapping his hands together. “Yes, that’s exactly it. That’s how I can revive after dying and interact with ghosts and all that.”

“But, this is just a theory, of course,” Five said, trying to regain his composure. “You can’t know that this is totally accurate. It could just be that you have very advanced healing abilities as a secondary power.”

“Yeah, I hate to agree with Five,” said Diego. “But, that does sound more plausible.” The other siblings spoke up in agreement. Klaus blew out his cheeks and looked away.

“Wait,” Allison interrupted them, narrowing her eyes at a guilty looking Klaus. “You know something else, don’t you?”

Vanya blinked at him, slightly teary-eyed. “Klaus?”

“Vanya, love, come over here!” Klaus exclaimed, ignoring Allison’s question. “You’re breaking my heart and I absolutely have to hug you.” Vanya giggled a bit despite herself and walked around the table. She squeezed herself onto the same chair as Klaus, who immediately wrapped an arm around her shoulders. 

“What do you know, Klaus?” Luther asked, brows furrowed in concern. “Did Dad say something?”

“Oh, God, no,” Klaus snorted. “Dad didn’t know shit about my powers, no matter what he liked to say. The only thing he was right about was me having a fuckton of unlocked potential.” He gestured wildly as he spoke. The others just stared blankly at him and Klaus sighed.  

“The last time I died.” He paused and swallowed hard. “I went to the afterlife, which I’ve never done before that I can remember. And, I met someone.” He paused again, for so long that Five quickly gestured for him to continue. 

“Who did you meet?” he said. “You’re already wrecking my worldview. You might as well tell me who you met in a place that is statistically unlikely to exist.”

“You remember when I popped back to life and said ‘oh, that little girl is crazy’?” Klaus asked. “Yeah… I was talking about God.” Allison’s mouth dropped open in shock and Diego made an aborted choking noise. Five collapsed into a chair and put his head in his hands. 

“What the fuck,” he mumbled, sounding genuinely distressed.

~~~~~~~

Allison, Luther, Five, and Ben didn’t get back to the house until nearly eight o’clock, well after the point of being suspicious. The hallway was dark as they slowly creaked the front door open and at first, they thought they had gotten away with it. Until the lights turned on. 

“And where do you think you’ve been?” asked a grinning Klaus from his position by the light switch. He was wearing the same pajamas they all had, though his pants had been ripped to form shorts.

“Nowhere!” Allison replied a touch too loud. She winced and lowered her voice to a whisper. “The mission went longer than expected and we lost track of time.” Klaus narrowed his eyes at her and gave the rest of them some serious side-eye. 

“I don’t think I believe you,” he said. “But I kinda just want to see what happens. Have fun, you crazy kids!” He waved and scampered up the stairs towards his bedroom. 

“Is he… high?” asked Luther incredulously. “How was it that easy?”

“Diego and Vanya won’t be,” said Five. He turned on his heel and disappeared in a flash of blue. Ben groaned as he realized that Five was right. 

Diego had always fancied himself some sort of detective (Ben had good money on him going into the police force after… after), and Vanya, while painfully ordinary, was too insightful for her own good sometimes. 

Then again, if any of what they had just seen was true, maybe she wasn’t so ordinary after all. Ben had some serious thinking to do before tomorrow.


	6. Collecting the Crew

Klaus woke up to Diego throwing a pillow at him. 

“Bitch,” he mumbled before he was even fully awake. Blearily, he turned to look at his brother, who was getting dressed at some god awful hour before the sun was even up. “What are you doing?”

“I’m going to work,” said Diego without turning around. He pulled a shirt on and glanced at Klaus as he was buttoning it. “The younger us are coming around later. Make sure you’re awake for that.” 

Klaus groaned, rolled over, and fell back asleep. The next time he woke up, it was to Allison opening his door nearly an hour later. She poked her head in.

“Klaus, I know Diego woke you earlier. Don’t make me get Five involved! You need to be awake to talk to the little Hargreeves,” she said before turning to leave. God, he hated when she pulled out her mom voice.

“Wait!” Klaus jolted upright, having a sudden realization. “Do I have to talk to them alone? You realize what a bad idea that is, right?”

“You’re plenty responsible, Klaus,” Allison said with a perfectly straight face. “There’s no one else we’d rather have explain things to them.” As he stared blankly at her, her lips twisted into a smile. “Okay, no. Vanya will be here the whole time and Five has a few hours before he has to leave.”

“Oh, thank god,” Klaus said, running a hand over his face. “When are they getting here?” But, Allison had already left the doorway. He groaned again, but started pulling himself out of bed. 

“Maybe if you’d gone to sleep at a normal hour,” said Ben from his perch on the dresser. “You wouldn’t be having this problem.” He’d pulled his hood up over his head, a clear sign of him wanting to be more comfortable, but being unable to change his clothes. Stupid ghost rules.

Klaus stumbled to his dresser, casually reaching through Ben’s legs to open his designated drawer (he and Diego had fought for  _ several  _ days about who got which drawer and, even today, his drawer was labeled ‘Klaus only’). He pulled out the first shirt he saw, ignoring Ben’s protests at being reached through. 

“You wouldn’t do this to Dave,” Ben whined as he yanked his legs out of Klaus’ reach. 

“That’s ‘cause I actually  _ like _ Dave,” Klaus retorted. He stuck his head nearly all the way into the drawer in search of pants. “He doesn’t bitch half as much as you do.” 

“Hey, he bitches way more than I do!” Ben defended himself. “You just listen to him more. It’s ridiculous.”

Klaus just rolled his eyes as he finished pulling a series of mismatched clothes over his head and wandered out of his bedroom in search of sustenance. 

When he pranced into the kitchen, he ruffled a grumpy Five’s already messy bedhead and danced away from the punch thrown in retaliation. 

“How’s my favorite little brother today?” Klaus asked gleefully, hopping up onto the counter and stretching to reach his favorite red mug. He hugged it to his chest as he turned and grabbed the pot of coffee. 

It was snatched out of his hands mere seconds before he could pour himself a delicious cup.

“Hey!” Klaus cried as Five teleported back to his seat, coffee pot in hand. “Bitch!”

“What kind of a role model are you?” Five asked, a sarcastic streak in his voice. “Cursing in front of your…  _ little  _ brother?” He screwed up his nose in disgust. Whether it was at Klaus’ general state of being or his own use of the word ‘little’ was unclear. 

Klaus crossed his arms in a childish sulk and that’s what Luther walked into. Of course, he didn’t even notice.

“Morning,” he grunted. Against all odds, he was fully dressed. He got the coffee pot from Five without even a hint of a struggle, causing Klaus to throw his hands up in exasperation. 

“You deserve it,” Ben sing-songed from beside him. Klaus elbowed him, but even he was surprised when it actually connected. 

“Huh,” he said over Ben’s over exaggerated ‘ow!’. “Of course it would be working now.” Klaus shook out his elbow and decided the coffee was a lost cause just as Allison swept into the kitchen.

“Morning!” she smiled, far too chipper for-- Klaus checked the time-- nine o’clock in the morning. Luther raised his head in anticipation of a kiss (which he received), Allison grabbed a piece of buttered toast off a previously hidden plate of them, and she was out the door.

Klaus blinked after her. “Where’s she off to in such a rush?”

“Job interview,” said Five without looking up from whatever he was doing in his notebook. Klaus had learned the hard way to never even look at the damn thing unless he wanted to lose a hand.

“What, another one?” Klaus said. “That’s her, what, third this week?” He hopped off the counter and began searching the fridge. “I mean, I’m all for self-exploration. Like, have you seen me? But, this just seems excessive.”

When they’d first arrived in the past, Allison had taken a waitressing job at some diner purely for the money, but after about a year and a half, when everyone else had found a way to make money, she’d quit. She cycled through seven jobs in four years, never lasting longer than six months at any of them. Without her rumors, Allison was… purposeless. 

“She’s still trying to figure herself out,” said Luther. He took a large gulp of coffee and stood. “She’ll know what she wants when she finds it.” Reaching from behind Five, he was able to snag the quickly cooling coffee pot and deposit it in Klaus’ hands. Klaus gleefully poured himself some and took a sip, letting out a sound inappropriate for a family breakfast.

“Gross,” muttered Five. He slammed his notebook shut and stormed out, calling over his shoulder. “I’ll be in my room!” 

“He gets more and more like a teenager every day,” Klaus said, pretending to wipe away a tear. Luther clapped him on the shoulder and strolled out the front door after Allison.

“You really shouldn’t antagonize Five so much,” said Ben, crossing his arms next to Klaus. “One of these days, he’ll snap and murder you in your bed.” 

Klaus just laughed. “I challenge him to find a way to make it stick.” He gestured wildly with his thankfully empty coffee mug, nearly taking Ben’s head off. Ben ducked reflexively.

“I’ve been thinking,” he said, straightening up. “Maybe I should clear out when everyone gets here. It’s one thing for little me to know he was supposed to die, but your younger self shouldn’t be screaming it for the rest of them to know.”

“What?” Klaus whined. “But, how will I talk to them without my emotional support ghost?”

“Fuck off,” Ben muttered with a grin. “I’m leaving one way or another. Maybe I’ll go hang out with Dave. We can finally talk about you in peace.” 

Klaus gasped loudly. “My brother and my boyfriend conspiring against me? How could you?” Ben laughed and slowly began to fade out.

“Call me back when they’re gone.” His voice sounded like it came from another room, but lingered softly even after Ben was fully gone. Klaus waved.

Ever since Klaus had gained (some) reliable control over his powers, Dave had begun taking regular trips into the afterlife to visit his family members. Most of the time, he could get back on his own, but Ben always needed an extra yank to make it back. None of them were quite sure why.

Klaus poured himself another cup of coffee and settled in to wait.

~~~~~~~

Ben was having a hell of a time convincing Klaus, Vanya, and Diego to follow him blindly. Well, mostly Vanya and Diego. Klaus had taken one look at Ben’s nervous, guilty face and agreed to “whatever you want, if it’ll turn that frown upside down.”

Diego was something else.

“I have a lot of work to do today,” he said, eyeing his desk covered in papers. “I don’t have time to sneak out.” 

“Please,” Ben begged, on his last legs. “It’s really important.”

“Well, what is it?” asked Diego, looking slightly interested.

Ben bit his lip. “It’s hard to explain.” Diego rolled his eyes and turned back to his desk. Ben flopped down on Diego’s bed.

“Please, please, please, please, please, please, please--”

“Fine!” Diego threw his hands up. “For God’s sake, fine, I’ll come! Just stop it.” Ben mentally cheered, getting up and practically dancing out.

Vanya was only a little easier. She had always been so shy and eager to please, that, even years after they had started regularly including her, she still jumped at any chance to spend time with them. That being said, she wasn’t very rebellious. 

“I don’t know,” she said skeptically. “Maybe you should just leave me. I’ll only get us caught.”

“We all want you to come, Vanya,” said Ben, sitting down next to her. “Please? You won’t slow us down any more than Luther will.” 

Vanya bit her lip. “Alright,” she slowly agreed. “But we need to be back before dinner.”

“Of course!” Ben grinned at her and slowly, it was returned. 

Diego, Vanya, and Klaus were getting increasingly more confused the further into town they were led. The seven of them were nearing the residential part of town when Klaus spoke.

“Hey, this is getting dangerously close to where I buy weed,” he said nonchalantly. “Can we make a pit stop?” 

Five rolled his eyes. “We’re almost there.”

“But I don’t,” Klaus started to whine, but stopped the moment they turned a corner. He made a low choking noise in the back of his throat.

“Klaus?” Allison stopped walking and laid a hand on his arm. Klaus looked up at her and she was shocked to see tears gathering in his eyes.

“They stopped,” he whispered, eyes wild.

“Who stopped?” said Diego. Klaus grabbed his arm and let out a slightly hysterical laugh.

“The ghosts!” he exclaimed, starting to grin. “They-they stopped screaming. I can’t even see any right now.” He slowly spun in a circle, scanning the surrounding streets. “This whole area is totally ghost free.” He was practically jumping up and down in glee, oblivious to the concerned looks the others were exchanging.

It was a well-known fact that Klaus had trouble controlling his powers. The others were well aware that a few ghosts followed their brother around, but hadn’t realized how bad it must have gotten. 

Ben and Five exchanged a look, both having realized what must be causing this sudden lack of ghosts--or rather who. 

“We should keep walking,” said Ben.

“Wait, no,” said Klaus, looking around. “I need to figure out what’s up with this street.”

“Obviously, it’s connected to where we’re going,” Five drawled, grabbing Klaus’ arm and yanking him towards the nearest building. “Let’s go.”


	7. here we go again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everyone is finally on the same page (i think)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk if you can tell that my main goal in all of these chapters is to cut the amount of characters down AS FAR AS I CAN because 14 characters is way too many its RIDICULOUS

Luckily, the front door was unlocked and they were all able to get inside and squeeze into an elevator. 

“What floor was it?” asked Luther, hand hovering over the buttons. “Five or six?”

“I think it was six,” said Allison. She bit her lip. “Or maybe not.”

Five sighed. “It was five, morons.” He reached over and pressed the button himself. The elevator doors closed and it began to rise. 

“Realistically, you only remembered that because it’s your name,” Vanya said. Five turned to glare at her and she raised her hands in innocence.

“You didn’t deny it, though,” muttered Diego. Five leaned over to smack him but was interrupted by the doors opening. Outside, a pale brunette had been about to press the down button. She stared at them in surprise.

“Oh, you guys are… early,” she said. When everyone just stared at her blankly, she continued. “I was going to get the mail, but…” She took a step back, sending a quick glance down the hall. “Why don’t you follow me?” She led the way down the hallway and Five followed without a second thought. Hesitantly, the rest did the same. 

Klaus threw his arms over Vanya’s and Diego’s shoulders. “Do you guys have any idea what’s going on?” They both shook their heads. “Okay, good, me neither.”

“Ben, you dragged us into this. What’s going on?” said Diego, glaring at Ben. “Does this have anything to do with the mission you guys went on without us yesterday?”

Ben started to answer, but was interrupted before he could get a word out. 

“It’s hard to explain,” Five said without looking behind him.

Klaus huffed. “Real informative, Five.” 

Five just ignored him. The woman led them into the apartment at the end of the hall, where a bearded man was hunched over the kitchen table shoveling cereal into his mouth. 

“That was quick, Van--” he stopped himself, nearly choking when he spotted the group. “Oh.” He coughed. “You’re all here.” His eyes drifted upwards in thought. “That  _ would  _ explain my headache.”

“Klaus!” hissed the woman, eyes wide with mild panic.

“Oh my god!” Klaus clapped his hands in delight. “Your name is Klaus, too! You’re already twice as cool as everyone else in this room. No offense meant to my lovely siblings, of course.” 

The man was watching him in amusement. He turned to the woman. “Is this what it’s like to be on the receiving end of my fabulous brand of bullshit?”

The woman rolled her eyes. “It really is. Can you get Five?” 

The man hopped up from the table and gave a mock salute that looked awfully real before starting down the hallway. It was only then that the kids noticed he was wearing a long-sleeved rainbow shirt paired with flowy blue pants. His toes might have been painted. 

“Awesome,” Klaus gasped, stars in his eyes.

“Watch out, everyone.” Diego grinned. “Klaus has a new hero.”

“This can’t end well,” said Vanya dryly. At the other end of the kitchen, the pale woman was wringing her hands. 

“Where’s everyone else?” asked Luther from behind Vanya. He was leaning against the doorframe and had crossed his arms like he didn’t know what to do with them.

“Oh, they had to go to work,” said the woman, sending them a nervous smile. “I don’t know why I assumed you wouldn’t be coming until later. We never actually talked about it.”

Vanya was starting to feel unsettled herself, both about the situation and the fact that the woman had yet to introduce herself. Did the others already know her? Out of habit, Vanya reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her pills. She easily cracked the lid open and popped one in her mouth, swallowing it dry. Actually… considering how the day was going, maybe she should take two? Vanya probably would have if it wasn’t for the woman spotting her pills and staggering towards the counter to steady herself.

“God, I forgot you’re still taking them,” she muttered, staring a hole into the pill bottle. Vanya was officially creeped out. 

“What?” she said. She glanced over to her siblings to find Diego and Klaus looking equally lost, but the others avoiding her gaze entirely. “What is going on, you guys?”

“They didn’t tell you then?” said Five. Except it wasn’t Five because Vanya was staring at her brother and he hadn’t said anything. 

She whipped around. The man from before --Klaus-- had returned with someone else in tow. He smiled at her confusion and made a grand ‘ta-da!’ motion towards the new Five.

The new Five was smirking, arms crossed. He was also wearing a hoodie and jeans, an outfit Vanya had never seen her brother in, but somehow the most juxtaposing thing was that he was barefoot and his toes were painted the same blue as Klaus’.

The older Klaus flopped down in his chair and resumed eating his cereal while Five went to pour himself a cup of coffee. 

“Long story short,” he said between sips. “We’re you from the future. We explained most of it to the others yesterday, so they can give you a run down.”

There was a long pause and then--

“What the fuck?” exclaimed Diego, screwing his face up in confusion. “I’m sorry but that makes no sense.”

“Well, it would if you were smarter,” mumbled the new Five into his coffee. Older Klaus scooped one last spoonful of cereal into his mouth and smacked his brother on the back of the head. 

Five barely reacted, just kicked a leg out that Klaus narrowly avoided. “Fuck you,” he mumbled and that’s what finally convinced Vanya.

“So, you figured out time travel?” she asked hesitantly. “Why do you look the same but you two,” she gestured towards older Klaus and the woman she was starting to suspect was herself, “look so much older?”

Older Klaus lifted an offended hand to his chest. “I’ll have you know I’m in the prime of my life!”

“It’s hard to--” Five cut himself off with a sigh. “I had a time travel accident. I’m technically much older than all the others. I only  _ look  _ like this… child.”

“You’re really more of a teenager now, Five,” said a distracted older Vanya (assuming it was Vanya’s older self). Five waved away her logic and continued. 

“We came back in time to stop the apocalypse.”

“The what?” cried Diego, incredulous. He turned to his siblings. “The rest of you believe this?”

“They had some pretty good proof,” said Allison. Luther and Ben nodded in agreement. 

“Are you me?” Vanya asked the woman. The woman nodded. Vanya let out a breath and pulled out a kitchen chair, sitting down heavily. 

“This is so fucking weird,” she said. A titter of laughter went through her siblings over her uncharacteristic cursing. Diego patted her on the shoulder, but offered no words of comfort, obviously still processing himself.

“Wait, wait, wait,” said Klaus, a sudden grin spreading across his face. “Does this mean you’re me in the future?” He gestured towards the older Klaus, who nodded with almost identical glee. 

“I know! We’re super cool, aren’t we?” older Klaus exclaimed, clapping his hands together. “Which reminds me, actually.” His smile disappeared. “Vanya, you okay taking over? I need to talk to mini me.”

Older Vanya waved him off. “We’ve already explained most of it anyway.” 

Klaus slid back his chair and stood up, walking over to his younger self. 

“C’mon,” he said, laying a hand on his shoulder and leading the bewildered teenager down the hallway. “It’s about the ghosts.” Suddenly, the younger Klaus was all for following his older self’s lead. 

“Speaking of private conversations…” the new Five sent older Vanya a significant look that must have meant something to her, because suddenly Vanya was being led away too.

“Wait, why can’t I be part of the conversation?” she asked almost immediately, glancing back towards her siblings. Everyone but Diego was staring after her, appearing almost pained. Diego just seemed confused.

Vanya was nudged into a bedroom and the door shut behind the two of them. The older Vanya sighed and sat down on the bed Vanya guessed was hers. 

“You can call me V,” said the older Vanya. “That should simplify things.”

“Okay?” Vanya sat down on the other bed, which was probably Five’s judging by the three math textbooks and five empty mugs on the nightstand. “What do they need to talk about?”

“They’re just going to catch Diego up,” said V. “It’s you and me that need to talk.” Vanya just stared at her until she continued. “I’ll start off by saying that a couple of years ago, I discovered that I--that  _ we _ \--have powers.”

“What?” Vanya cried out, louder than expected. The conversation in the next room audibly quieted, obviously having heard her. Before she could react to that, it resumed as if nothing had happened. She quieted herself. “That’s not possible!”

V bit her lip. “It really all comes down to Dad. He tried to train us when we were little, but decided we didn’t have enough control or something.” She rolled her eyes. “God, what an asshole.”

Vanya laughed a little hysterically. “I can’t though. I would have noticed if I had powers by now, right? I’m not stupid.”

“It’s the pills, Vanya,” murmured V sadly. “They’re suppressing your powers.”

Vanya took in a shaky breath. She could see V’s lips still moving, but all she could hear was the ringing in her ears. 

“What?” she whispered, deadly quiet. V stopped whatever she was saying, maybe realizing Vanya hadn’t been listening.

“Your powers are connected to your emotions,” she said gently. “The pills suppress the emotions and that suppresses the powers. I’m so sorry.”

Vanya took in a few deep breaths. She couldn’t remember ever feeling this angry in her life and yet it still felt like wading through deep water, as anger always did. Vaguely, she remembered taking a pill less than ten minutes before and that made her even more angry. 

Her father had done this to her. She’d always known he was an awful person, but seeing it laid out like this was heartbreaking, nonetheless. Vanya took a deep breath and let it out as a sob. 

Suddenly, V was sitting down on the bed next to her and pulling her into a hug. Vanya clung to her older self’s arm as her world imploded.


	8. Several Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shit gets real.

Betrayal was a bit of a new sensation for Vanya. Even anger was fairly novel, though she’d been annoyed many times throughout her life.

She’d never before felt the urge to punch Reginald--for he wasn’t  _ Dad _ , not anymore--right in his ugly face. And it was so regular, too. Was this what anger was supposed to feel like? Was this why Five got into screaming matches with Reginald every other day?

It wasn’t just the anger either. Since Vanya had stopped taking her pills, the whole world seemed brighter for it. She laughed far more easily, cried at a sad movie Ben put on. It was as if a veil had suddenly been lifted away and she was feeling more alive than ever. 

“Vanya, are you okay?” Ben asked, placing a hand on her arm. The movie’s credits were rolling, as were the tears down her cheeks. She couldn’t seem to stop. 

Her breath hitched and she scrubbed her eyes dry. “Yeah, I’m okay,” she said, but the thickness in her voice betrayed her. “It was just a sad movie.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cry,” Ben said, shocked. He looked lost. “How do you..?” Vanya let herself fall into Ben’s side and pull his arm around herself like a blanket. 

“Oh,” he said, pulling her closer. 

“I don’t know why I’m getting so upset,” she said. “It’s just a stupid movie.”

“You’ve had a lot of crazy stuff happen over the last few days,” Ben said in a soothing tone she’d only ever heard him use on Klaus. “Plus, you’re taking less of your pills, right? That’s gotta be messing with you.”

“Less… right,” Vanya agreed faintly.

“And thank god you did,” Ben rambled on, not noticing her tone. “I mean, going cold turkey would’ve been awful. All those emotions hitting you all at once. It would be crazy.” 

Vanya twisted her hair around her hand until it physically hurt.

“I’m gonna go to bed,” she said, sitting up. Ben blinked at her in confusion.

“Oh, okay,” he said. “I’ll just turn the TV off then?” But Vanya was already halfway out of the room. She shot a quick “thank you!” over her shoulder as she left, making it up to her room without encountering any of her siblings, a fact for which she was thankful.

The truth was that Vanya couldn’t bring herself to take the medication. She just couldn’t. V had warned her that stopping it all at once would mess with her head and cause dangerous emotional fluctuations, but she didn’t care. For once in her life, Vanya was out from under Reginald’s thumb. And it was going to stay that way.

Meanwhile, Klaus’s behavior was really starting to worry Diego. He’d always been fairly up and down, even slightly insane at times, but never like this. 

“I’m turning over a new leaf, Diego!” Klaus called from where he was ransacking his room. He pulled out a dresser drawer and dumped it. “I’m cleaning up my act, once and for all!”

Diego eyed him with skepticism. “That’s great, Klaus. What are you doing?”

Klaus turned to him with a look that wouldn’t look out of place on Five. “Cleaning out my stash, my dear brother. Obviously.”

“Y-You have a stash?” Diego asked in disbelief. “Enough that you need to destroy your room to find it? Did you lose it?”

“Of course not!” Klaus paused and stared down at his hands. “Well, some of it, maybe. But I know where most of it is!”

A small pile of illegal substances was amassing in the corner of the room. As Diego watched, Klaus ripped open a stuffed unicorn and yanked out a baggie of pills. 

“Woah, what the fuck are those?” Diego cried, horrified. He thought he’d been watching his brother so carefully too. “Is that ecstasy or molly or something else super dangerous?”

Klaus held up his hands. “Diego, calm down. They’re just sleeping pills.”

“ _ Just  _ sleeping pills!” Diego cut himself off and took a deep breath. “Why are you cleaning out your stash?”

Klaus looked down at his hands. “I’m getting clean.” 

“What?” Diego grinned and punched Klaus’ shoulder. “That’s awesome! What happened to change your mind?”

“What makes you think something happened?” Klaus smiled disarmingly, but Diego knew better. He raised his eyebrows at Klaus until his brother snapped.

“Fine!” he said, throwing his hands up. “I talked to my older self!”

“And, what, he told you you’d regret it in the future?” 

“No.” Klaus ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “He said he’d teach me how to control the ghosts.”

Diego was confused. “Well, what does that have to do with getting sober?”

“It has everything to do with getting sober!” Klaus was suddenly on his feet. “Diego, they’re on top of me every second of every day. The drugs make them go away. How the fuck else am I supposed to cope with these bloody, screaming corpses that no one else can see?” He collapsed onto his bed, head in his hands. “It’s driving me crazy, Diego.”

“Klaus, I--”

“Yeah, I know,” Klaus interrupted him. “I should have more control by now, but I don’t!”

“No!” Diego sat down next to Klaus. “Man, I had no idea this was bothering you so much. I mean, you freaked out the other day when they disappeared, but I didn’t get it.”

Klaus lowered his hands enough for Diego to glimpse his red-rimmed eyes. “They’re so loud.”

“Are…” Diego cleared his throat, almost afraid to ask. “Are there any in here right now?”

Klaus answered without looking up. “Two.”

“Who are they?” Diego asked, scanning the room in horror. 

“One’s an old man who followed me here from the cemetery,” Klaus said. He sat up and squinted at the corner of the room where he’d been piling his drugs. “The other’s… an old nanny of ours. Not mine, she hangs out in the medical wing. I think she’s one of Vanya’s.”

“Have multiple nannies died in this house?” Diego said. “And why were you in a cemetery?”

Klaus waved his hands around. “I had my reasons! And yes.”

“We all had different nannies when we were little, right?” Diego said, trying to simultaneously distract Klaus and move away from the cemetery thing. 

“Yep,” Klaus popped the ‘p’. “Dad must’ve been paying them really well. I know I wouldn’t have come to work here after four people died.”

Diego’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Wait, four?!” 

Klaus nodded and slipped off the bed to check underneath it. His voice became muffled when he crawled practically all the way under to reach something. Diego pulled his feet up to sit cross-legged. 

“Yeah, four,” Klaus said from under the bed. “All ‘accidents’” The air quotes were practically audible even without seeing his face. 

Klaus rolled out from under the bed, a shoebox in hand. He placed it on the bed and opened it. 

“Jesus, you’re serious about this stuff,” Diego commented upon seeing the contents of the box.

“Diego, this is barely serious,” Klaus said, smiling as he rifled through. “I’m keeping most of this. It’s typical teenage rebellion stuff.” He pulled out a beat up bong and several packs of cigarettes. “The cigarettes at least. Oh, and the whiskey.” A half empty bottle joined the cigarettes in his keep pile.

“What are you quitting then?” asked Diego. He picked up the bottle to read the label. “I mean, what were you on in the first place?”

“Mostly weed,” Klaus answered offhandedly. “Sometimes the sleeping pills. Tried E once but I wasn’t a fan of feeling like I was floating. Or maybe I was floating.” He mimed a thoughtful expression. “Can’t remember. I probably would’ve liked it if I kept using it. It was  _ really  _ good at keeping ghosts away. ”

Diego bit his lip, not knowing what to say. How could they have let Klaus down like this? Some siblings they were. 

“Klaus, I’m so sorry.”

Klaus turned to him, visibly confused. “What for?”

“For letting you down. Listen.” Diego hit Klaus’ shoulder until he looked up and seemed to be paying attention. “We’re supposed to be looking out for you.”

“You’re not responsible for me, Diego.” Klaus frowned. “You’ve got your own problems. You don’t need to be looking out for your screw up brother.”

Diego stared at him, mouth hanging open in disbelief. To hell with it, his brother needed a hug.

“What are you doing?” Klaus asked, trying to squirm away. Diego just held him tighter.

“What does it look like, dumbass?” he replied. Klaus just sighed and allowed it to happen.

It was a day later that the letter arrived. The moment Vanya saw the return address she suddenly couldn’t breathe.

“Oh my god,” she murmured, hovering over the pile of mail. The small size of the letter seemed discouraging. What if it was a polite rejection, or worse--a scathing one?

Logically, she knew colleges couldn’t send mean rejection letters, but it was her mind, so she could think what she wanted.

“What’s that?” asked Ben, having come up behind her while she was distracted. Behind them, the rest of the Hargreeves siblings were gathering for breakfast and Grace was flitting around the kitchen. 

“A letter from Bienen School of Music,” Vanya murmured, still somewhat in shock. “I applied a while ago, but I’d pretty much forgotten about it.” A total lie. Vanya had been obsessively checking the mail every morning, hoping for a response. 

Ben’s eyes lit up. “Well,” he said, practically bouncing. “Are you going to open it?”

“I don’t know if I can.”

He extended his hand. “Can I?” Numbly, Vanya handed the letter over and watched as Ben carefully tore it open.

He’d barely scanned the first few lines when suddenly he was yelling. 

“Vanya, you got in, you got in!” He swept her up into a hug and Vanya couldn’t stop herself from squealing along with him. She practically ripped the letter out of his hands to read it herself. There it was, in plain black and white.

_ Miss Vanya Hargreeves, _

_ We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at the Bienen School of Music…  _

“What’s happening?” called an amused Allison from across the room. Ben turned to beam at her.

“Vanya got into a big music school!” he exclaimed and suddenly all her siblings were cheering for her. Vanya felt her face begin to turn red but was unable to stop smiling, even as they started clapping. She didn’t think she’d ever been so happy.

“What is all this racket about?” barked Reginald from the entrance. “Don’t you know breakfast is a quiet time?” 

The teenagers immediately fell silent. Not even Five seemed to have the energy required for fighting. Their father stood in the doorway, familiar glare upon his face, but nothing could put a damper on Vanya’s excitement. 

“Dad, I got accepted--” 

Reginald cut her off. “Now is not the time, Number Seven!” 

Her grin faded instantly. “Oh,” she said, realizing she shouldn’t have expected anything different. 


	9. Reginald Gets What's Coming to Him

“Take your seats,” Reginald said and breakfast began. Vanya didn’t move, even as Ben left her side to sit down with the others.

“Sir, I got accepted at the Bienen School of Music,” she said faintly. Reginald didn’t look up. “It’s a really good school. If I get a degree from there, I could do anything I want. Do you want to see the letter?”

“Sweetheart, let’s finish breakfast first,” Grace said with her usual smile. “We can talk about that later.”

“But I wanna talk about it now,” Vanya said, turning back to Reginald. “Dad. Dad!” She clenched her fists. “Can’t you care about  _ one  _ thing I do?”

“Number Seven, this is inappropriate,” Reginald said loudly, finally turning around. “You are acting like a child. Tell me, do you always feel the need for others’ approval?”

“Why can’t you just be happy for me?” cried Vanya. “Why isn’t anything I do enough?”

Five was staring at her, looking alarmed. “Vanya--”

She cut him off. “Shut  _ up _ , Five! Are you the only one allowed to fight with him?” Behind her, the cabinets began to violently shake. Reginald’s face went white.

“Number Seven, you must come with me immediately,” he said, voice shaking. Vanya didn’t quite register why when all she could feel was satisfaction. Good, she thought, it’s his turn to be scared.

“I’m allowed to be angry!” she yelled. “I’m allowed to have emotions! You can’t take that away.” 

Reginald stood up, examining the shaking room with the closest thing to panic any of them had ever seen on him. Inevitably, his eyes landed on the medicine cabinet. Striding over, he whipped the cabinet open. 

“You can’t keep ignoring me!” Vanya screamed, voice raising several decibels. Her siblings shouted in pain, covering their ears. Klaus ducked below the table as a ringing noise started echoing through the kitchen.

“Vanya, stop!” Ben shouted over the din. 

“Yeah, c’mon, Vanya!” said Diego, hands still over his ears.

“Number Seven,” Reginald shouted, dark look on his face. “Why have you stopped taking your medication?”

“Is that all you care about?” Vanya cried. “Controlling me? Why do the others get to keep their powers, but I don’t?”

“You have a dangerous lack of control, Number Seven,” said Reginald, striding forward. “How did you discover this information? It is of the utmost importance that you tell me.” Once he was close enough, he grabbed Vanya by the shoulders and roughly shook her.

Vanya stumbled when he let go and the cabinets stopped shaking. Klaus cautiously peeked his head above the table as the ringing died.

“How did you discover this information?” Reginald repeated. “Who told you?” Vanya glared at him, but kept silent.

“You couldn’t keep it a secret forever,” spat Five. Reginald turned to him and finally registered that none of his wards looked surprised.

“Ah, so you all know,” he said, rubbing his chin. “Well, this will be significantly more difficult then. No matter!” He grabbed Vanya’s arm and began tugging her out of the room. “Come along, Number Seven.” 

Vanya dug her heels in and desperately tried to pull away. “Get off me!” 

“Hey, let her go!” Klaus yelled and threw a plate at Reginald, who barely ducked in time to avoid it. 

Allison broke away from her shocked siblings, running through the doorway to catch up with Reginald and a still struggling Vanya.

“I heard a rumor--”

Reginald smacked her with the back of his hand, sending her sprawling on the floor. She held her stinging face in fear. No matter what horrible things he’d done to them, Reginald had never directly hit anyone before. She pulled her hand away and was slightly surprised to find it covered in blood. Reginald’s ring had cut her cheek.

Her siblings had followed her into the hallway and Luther rushed to her side.

“Allison, are you okay?” 

Allison waved him away, annoyed. “I’m fine. Go after Vanya!” Ben took off down the hallway, but was unable to reach them before Reginald was pushing Vanya into an elevator none of them had ever seen before. He pressed down and Ben collided hard with the closed doors.

“Shit!” he cried. He kicked at them, frustrated. “God, what’s even down there?”

Vanya kicked at Reginald’s legs but the man barely flinched. 

“Where are you taking me?” she demanded, trying to tug her arm away from his tight grip. Reginald ignored her, staring straight ahead. Vanya let out a huff of frustration and kicked him again.

The doors slid open to a long, dark hallway. As Reginald tugged Vanya forward, the lights lit up one after another all the way to the end, where a door was visible.

“What is this?” Vanya said in a quiet voice. “Have I… been down here before?”

“Of course you have,” Reginald said, voice ringing down the echoey hall. “You spent several months here as a child. Do you not remember?” 

Reginald continued talking, but Vanya was no longer listening. Her vision tunneled until all that was visible was the door, still about fifty feet from them. Her breathing sped up and  _ oh _ . She did remember this place. 

“No,” she whispered, eyes widening. “Wait, no.” Digging her heels in, Vanya desperately yanked at her arm, but Reginald’s grip was too strong.

“Do not throw a tantrum, Number Seven,” he ordered. “This is for everyone’s safety.”

Their footsteps echoed in Vanya’s head, but they were too irregular to focus on. Her breathing, maybe? She closed her eyes and tried to calm down, but her own panicked breathing was too erratic to channel. A weak wind blew her hair away from her face, but Vanya was unable to control her powers. God, she wished her older self was there.

Reginald knocked his fist on the back of her head, nearly sending her tipping forward. He used the forward momentum to pull her the last few steps to the door.

He quickly unlocked it and pushed her towards it.

“No!” Vanya cried. She kicked at him, punched his chest, bit his hand. Reginald reared back with a shout.

“Impertinent girl,” he growled. “Do not think you can disobey me.”

“Fuck you!” Vanya spat, a wild look in her eyes. 

Reginald backhanded her, much as he had Allison. Vanya sprawled across the ground, dazed. He had put much more force into that hit.

He reached down and grabbed her arm, the same one he’d bruised earlier.

“No,” Vanya moaned when he began dragging her into the room. “No!” She threw her feet up at him and screamed. 

The scream and its corresponding echo was exactly what Vanya needed to focus. She screwed her eyes shut and pushed the sound.

Reginald went flying into the cell and hit the opposite wall with a great crack! Vanya stared at him in shock, eyes wide. 

“I can’t believe that worked,” she whispered. Her lips trembled and she hurriedly wiped tears and blood off her cheek, sucking in a shaky breath. 

Vanya took a step towards Reginald and nearly fell, her foot giving out under her. She yelped and caught herself on the wall. Her ankle was swollen and red when she pulled up her pant leg. 

“Shit,” she muttered, staring back down the hallway. How would she get to the elevator before Reginald woke up? Of course, that was assuming he  _ did  _ wake up. 

Vanya used the wall to hobble to the cell door where she struggled to pull the door closed. When it finally clicked shut, she spun the handle and locked Reginald inside with his growing pool of blood. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking there's only going to be one or two more chapters before this story is over, but I'll probably be writing a few more shorter stories in this verse. That's why I made the 'new timeline series'


	10. The End (unless..?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can't believe we're here... at the end of an era. can't believe i've FINISHED something

The distance to the elevator seemed insurmountable, especially with a twisted ankle, but Vanya was determined to make it.

She leaned heavily against the wall, sliding her hand forward to gain extra support as her leg began to slide out from under her. 

“Shit,” she whispered, pulling it back. So focused was she on crossing the hallway that she failed to notice the elevator doors closing.

Ben’s cry of “Vanya!” however was impossible to miss and Vanya nearly fell to the floor in relief. Ben skidded to a stop in front of her, taking in her bleeding cheek and tears. His hands floated helplessly above her for a moment before he was swooping in to take most of her weight.

“Fuck,” muttered a sick-looking Diego from behind Ben. Because all six of her siblings had stuffed themselves into that elevator to come rescue her.

“Sorry we took so long, Vanya,” said Allison guiltily. “The door had a passcode and we had to search his office for it.”

“It’s okay,” replied Vanya, attempting a smile. She gasped as she nearly put weight on her foot and Five immediately tucked himself under her other arm to help support her.

“Yeah, who knew Dad kept a piece of paper with his passwords on it?” Klaus attempted a joke. “Didn’t take him for the type.” Luther smacked him upside the head without moving from where he stood behind Allison.

“Ow!” complained Klaus.

Vanya let out a quiet laugh, then sobered, eyes shooting back towards the cell.

Luther caught her glance. “What even is this place?”

“It’s where he locked me up,” said Vanya in a cold tone. “When we were little.”

“Oh my god,” cried Allison in sudden dismay. “I-I think I’ve been down here.”

“What?” said Five, turning to her. “When?”

“I’m so sorry, Vanya,” Allison gasped, tears filling her eyes. “It’s all my fault.”

“What is?” asked Vanya, exchanging confused glances with her other siblings.

“When we were maybe four,” Allison started, furiously wiping at her eyes. “Dad brought me down here and he-he had me rumor you to--”

“To forget about my powers,” Vanya said blankly. It was as if Allison had unlocked the memories because suddenly Vanya vividly remembered the months of isolation and--worse--the years of training before it.

“I didn’t understand what I was doing.” Allison looked sick. “He made me an accomplice.”

“Can we go back upstairs?” said Vanya, eyes fixed on the floor.

“Vanya, please, I’m so sorry--”

“Please,” Vanya said. She looked up and her lip was trembling. Ben and Five supported her as she hobbled into the elevator. Klaus darted in after them, muttering something about making a phone call, leaving Allison to stare helplessly after them.

Just as Ben was about to press the button, Luther reached his arm in to hold the door. 

“Wait,” he said. “What happened to Dad?”

“He’s in the vault,” Vanya answered shakily, though her eyes remained dry. 

The doors closed and Luther immediately set in comforting a distraught Allison, while Diego set his sights on the cell. 

A knife found its way into his hand as he peered through the darkened window in the door. 

“Luther,” he called back upon seeing nothing. “Back me up here.”

Luther gave Allison one last pat on the shoulder and crossed to Diego.

“Ready when you are,” he muttered. Diego mimed counting down from three and Luther swung the door open on zero. 

Diego leaped in, knife at the ready.

~~~~~~~~~

Klaus unlocked the apartment door with a grin on his face. He stepped inside whistling and spinning his keys around his finger.

“You haven’t given me an explanation yet,” deadpanned Ben from his spot on the kitchen table. He’d originally been behind Klaus, but the Horror was nothing if not overdramatic.

Klaus slammed the door shut with a flourish and clanged his keys into the key bowl.

“I mean, it can’t just be because you got a free coffee,” Ben continued. He paused and narrowed his eyes at Klaus. “Can it?”

Klaus wagged his eyebrows, grinning. “Can’t I simply be in a good mood?”

“No,” Ben answered. “Unexplained glee usually means you’re bullying Diego again but you haven’t done that today.”

Klaus rubbed his hands together eagerly. “Now there’s an idea!”

“That wasn’t a suggestion!” Ben added, rolling his eyes.

Klaus pouted. “I just woke up this morning in a good mood. I have a feeling that something awesome is going to happen today and I don’t mean that free coffee I got earlier.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Shit,” Luther couldn’t help but say, staring at his father’s dead body in horror. Allison leaned in behind him, hand over her mouth in shock. 

Diego couldn’t seem to muster up anything but a bitter sort of happiness as he lowered his knife. The old bastard had gotten exactly what he deserved, in his opinion. Of course, he knew better than to say that in front of Luther.

“Well,” Allison swallowed hard. “What do we do?”

“I’ll get Pogo,” Diego said. He stepped back out of the cell and closed the door. 

Allison nodded and lead the way into the elevator. Luther followed without comment, pensively staring at the floor. Diego brought up the rear without comment, not wanting to pry into his brother’s thought process.

The elevator ride is completely silent, no one willing to comment on what they’d just seen. Once they reached the first floor, Diego breezed through the living room, stopping only momentarily to squeeze Vanya’s shoulder where she sat on the couch. 

He could tell she was still unsure how to feel about the day’s events. She gave him a strained smile and soon Diego was out of the room. 

In the hallway, Klaus was on the phone, nodding as if the person on the other end could see him. 

“Yeah,” he said, seriously. “Okay.”

“Who are you talking to?” Diego asked with his eyes narrowed. Klaus wouldn’t be dumb enough to call the police, would he?

Klaus jumped and whirled around in surprise, tangling himself in the phone wires. “Shit, Diego! You scared me!” He gave his brother a lopsided grin, eyes clearer than they’d been in a while. Diego mentally kicked himself for doubting his brother like that, especially with the conversation they’d had the other day.

Klaus twisted around as an unintelligible voice came from the phone. 

“You still there?” Klaus said. He paused, nodding again. “Okay, see you.” He clicked the phone down in its receiver.

“So?” Diego gestured for Klaus to continue. Klaus gave him two thumbs up.

“I called Five,” he said. “Well, I was trying to call older me, but Five picked up the phone, so I talked to him. Either way, the older us’ll be here in a little while.”

“What?” Diego’s mouth dropped open. “How’re we gonna explain them to Pogo! Or Mom!”

“Pogo has more things to worry about,” Klaus said, avoiding Diego’s gaze. “I mean, Dad’s dead, isn’t he?”

“Yeah.” 

They lapsed into silence until Diego remembered what he’d come here to do.

“I’m gonna get Pogo,” he said. “You should wait near the front door to let them in. We don’t want Mom answering it.” 

Klaus nodded and they went their separate ways.

Now, Diego only had to figure out how to break the news to Pogo. 

~~~~~~~~~~

“Cereal or eggs?” Klaus asked, shaking the box. He turned to Dave and Ben, sitting side by side on the kitchen counter, which--did dying make you suddenly hate chairs? What was with that?

“Cereal,” Ben said, just as Dave said, “Eggs.” They gave each other incredulous looks simultaneously. 

“Eggs are healthier,” said Dave, gesturing to Klaus. “He doesn’t get enough nutrients.”

“Um, rude?” Klaus said. He was ignored.

“Counterpoint,” said Ben triumphantly. “Eggs involve cooking and Klaus will burn the apartment down.”

Dave looked considering. “Okay, point. Yeah, I vote cereal, too.”

Klaus stared at his brother and boyfriend in exaggerated shock. 

“Betrayal!” he screeched. “You doubt my abilities?”

“You set a pan on fire last week,” said Dave. Klaus pouted and Dave quickly added. “I just want you safe, sunshine.” 

Klaus melted, as expected.

“That’s cheating,” he grumbled, but he was standing in the v of Dave’s legs and leaning in for a kiss at the time, so Dave didn’t take him too seriously. 

Ben rolled his eyes as it quickly devolved into makeout territory. He let himself fade away without saying anything.

It wasn’t until Five was calling Klaus’s name from behind him that Klaus broke the kiss. 

“Oh, hey, little bro,” he said, out of breath and slightly red. Behind him, Dave ran his hand down Klaus’s arm, confident in his invisibility.

“Klaus, stop having sex with your invisible boyfriend and sit down,” Five said, grumpily. When Klaus did as told, Five slammed his notebook down on the other side of the table.

“I’ve finished contemplating your death situation,” he said, as if he hadn’t had a breakdown over it less than a week ago. “And I have a few questions.”

“Fire away,” said Klaus, forcing a smile onto his face. “I got nothing to hide.” 

Dave sat down on the arm of Klaus’s chair, resting his hand on Klaus’s shoulder, and the smile became a bit more real.

“Firstly--” Five was interrupted by the hall phone ringing. He sighed explosively and got up to answer it.

“What.” It took only a moment for Five’s annoyance to turn to alarm. “Wait, what happened?” 

Klaus watched the one-sided conversation with no small amount of confusion, unable to grasp the other end of it. Five hung up. 

“That was you,” he said, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door. “We need to get to the academy.”

“What?” Klaus blurted out, jumping to his feet and following. “What happened?” 

Five turned back as he opened the door. “Vanya killed Reginald.” He swept out, leaving Klaus standing shocked in the kitchen. 

“Didn’t you say something good was going to happen today?” offered a cringing Dave. Klaus let out a slightly hysterical laugh.

“C’mon!” Five yelled from the hallway and Klaus ran out, slamming the door behind him.

~~~~~~~~~

Telling Pogo had been easier than expected because the man already knew. 

“Master Hargreeves has cameras down there,” Pogo said, face crumbled with all the grief Diego didn’t feel. “I saw the footage only when it was too late to do anything. You children had it well in hand.” 

“What are you going to do about Reginald?” Diego asked, still paused in the doorway of Pogo’s out-of-the-way office. 

“I suppose I will be required to make some calls,” Pogo said. He looked up at Diego’s serious face. “Your sister will not be punished for this. Even if the police did need to be contacted, which they do not, she was well within her rights to defend herself.”

“Damn right she was.” 

Diego left without another word, wanting to get back to his siblings.

~~~~~~~~~~

“I’ll call the others,” Klaus offered from his seat next to the thundercloud that was Five on public transport. 

“Vanya first,” Five reminded him. Klaus scoffed and did just that.

They did have a car, but with Diego, Luther, and Vanya working jobs that took them all over, it was always in use. Klaus, Allison, and Five were almost always banished to a bus or subway ride. It was a bus this time, thank god, because otherwise Klaus would have no reception. 

Vanya seemed unsurprised at the news of her younger self going rogue. 

“I was afraid something like this would happen,” she sighed. “I told her not to go cold turkey, but she probably did. I’ll meet you guys at the academy in twenty.”

Diego, Luther, and Allison agreed to get there as soon as they could, leaving Klaus, Five, and two ghosts to deal with the situation for the time being.

“Whee,” Ben deadpanned, standing up without holding a rail. Someone had stolen the ‘empty’ seat next to Klaus.

Klaus collapsed into helpless laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~

The older them were there in what felt like seconds, but was probably more like half an hour.

The doorbell rang and Klaus quickly opened it, unsurprised to see his older self and Five standing there, along with an unfamiliar ghost and another he’d been hoping to avoid.

“Hey,” Klaus said, visibly not looking at Ben. “C’mon in.”

~~~~~~~~~

Five stepped into the academy at the end of his fifty year crusade. Klaus stepped in at the beginning of the rest of the world.


End file.
